Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Around the Campfire => Topic started by: JW_Halverson on January 04, 2014, 12:10:16 am
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(http://i365.photobucket.com/albums/oo100/JW_Halverson/Hendrix/SAM_0126_zps2083d809.jpg) (http://s365.photobucket.com/user/JW_Halverson/media/Hendrix/SAM_0126_zps2083d809.jpg.html)
This is Hendrix, the male American kestrel we keep at the Black Hills Raptor Center. (Actually, he stays in my second bedroom.) My morning starts with weighing him, taking off his jesses and leash, and parking him on the pink rock he loves atop the shelving unit in the kitchen. I pull a frozen mouse from the freezer and drop it in a cup of hot water to thaw while I make coffee.
When the coffee is done, I weigh out his portion of mouse for the morning based on his overnight weight. This morning he was up to 105 grams (3.7 ounces), a little heavier than normal. But he was very keen for breakfast and was whining and crying to me to hurry things up.
I put a tiny sliver of mouse between the fingers of my glove and held it up. Hendrix immediately flew into action. Literally. He flew across the room to land on the glove. Once he had eaten the tidbit, he turned and flew back to his rock. We repeated this for 17 quick flights.
Once he is fed, I let the dog back in the house where she can be scolded by the angry little falcon while I rustle breakfast for me. This morning I was finishing up dishes when I saw him sitting on his rock all poofed up. He apparently was very content and pleased with life in general. Kestrels will fluff like this when all is well in their little worlds. I snatched the camera up and for once he held his pose. You can just barely see the steel blue-grey wing on the left side of the frame - hallmark of the males in this species. The females have rusty brown wings (they are also larger, faster, and often better hunters).
Just thought I'd share the shot with you.
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Those are cool little raptors. We used to call them sparrow hawks.
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That's awesome! I've been seeing a lot of kestrels down here. My buddies friend is thinking about hunting with one. Went on a hunt today with a red tail but the squirrels weren't making any mistakes today.
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Beautiful falcon. I love kestrels. They have a great personality.
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They are one of, if not the, prettiest falcons. Too bad they don't come in Gyrfalcon size. Is he an eyass or are passage Kestrals just friendly?
Don
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WAAAAAH! Cutest lil Kestrel fluff ball! ;D kestrels are really adorable! sorry for my minor spazz attack there....
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Have lots of Kestrels here in Mid-Michigan farm country - always been one of My favorites. See Merlin once in a while also - Bob.
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Had one fly out of the freestalls grabbed a starling then flew right into the side of the hay shed he sat there for a little holding on to the starling got himself pulled back together then flew back into the freestalls. Pretty birds.
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Very cool pic JW!
I watched a kestrel sitting on a wire nearby all summer,never did get to see him dive on a mouse.
Kevin
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Thanks for posting these tidbits ,JW. Always a treat. The background info is always a welcome addition as well.
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Falcons are cool. I'd love to fly one. We don't have many Kestrels, but lots of Merlins. You see (and hear) them all summer. We had a pair nesting in a pine tree in our back alley. When they're calling, the song birds poop themselves and dive for cover. Had one take a juvenile Robin in our back yard last summer. Caused quite a hub-bub in the Robin world... lots of squaking and dive bombing, etc. Long story short... Mr.Merlin had Mr. Robin for lunch.
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Cool pic JW. Knew a falconer (if that's the right term) in North Texas. I haven't seen him in 10 or 15 years, but I used to enjoy going over and seeing his birds. He did the rondeveouz so you might have known him. Steve..........dang, cant remember his last name...Harris, Steve Harris. Good guy.
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Very cool - they are cool birds. Was he an injury bird you guys took in or was he raised in the center? I guess I am not familiar with the raptor center in the black hills - didn't know if you took in injured birds for recovery. (maybe have to google it) Either way - takes quite a commitment to care for a bird like that. Nice.
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That's a neat looking little bird. I have been seeing a lot more owls while bow hunting and need to get a good camera so I can get some photos of them.
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That sounds like an interesting morning routine. I'm afraid the way I tend to be slow to wake up in the morning that I'd confuse my coffee and the thawing mouse.
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Cool picture, where I used to live there was a big dead cottonwood tree and there was a pair of kestrels that nested in there every year,I used to go down and watch them all the time.
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That sounds like an interesting morning routine. I'm afraid the way I tend to be slow to wake up in the morning that I'd confuse my coffee and the thawing mouse.
Don't worry,you would only do it once! :o :P :P ;D
Wayne
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They are one of, if not the, prettiest falcons. Too bad they don't come in Gyrfalcon size. Is he an eyass or are passage Kestrals just friendly?
Don
This little feller was booted outa his nest by older siblings and the Humane Society in Huron, SD kept him for about 2 weeks before turning him over to the rehabbers at the Watertown, SD Zoo. By that time he was already imprinted on humans and was nonreleasable.
I've joked about breeding gyr-strals!
That sounds like an interesting morning routine. I'm afraid the way I tend to be slow to wake up in the morning that I'd confuse my coffee and the thawing mouse.
Don't worry,you would only do it once! :o :P :P ;D
Wayne
And that is why the coffee goes in the large brown mug and the mouse goes in the white plastic one. At least it does NOW!
This afternoon I ventured out into the back yard at 13 degrees F (ABOVE zero for a change) and found a breasted out starling. The feathers were scattered from hell to breakfast, so obviously a sharpshinned hawk had stopped in.
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You can crossbreed a Golden Eagle with a Harris hawk, a Gyrstral would be no problem. ;D
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Hendrix is a cool little dude! Somehow have" Little Wing" in my head now... :laugh:
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Hendrix is a cool little dude! Somehow have" Little Wing" in my head now... :laugh:
"Little Wing" was the first song on the radio as I drove off after picking him up. Now, as Paul Harvey said it, you know [pause] the rest of the story. Good day!